The present invention refers to a new and distinct variety of flowering pear tree which will hereinafter be denominated as the xe2x80x98Veyna Flowering Pearxe2x80x99, and which produces a bright red foliage during late November to early December in a normal growing year with normal winter chilling temperature in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. This hybrid flowering pear tree is a vigorous, fast growing ornamental landscape tree which produces larger leaves than either of its parents, with bark color of the mature wood and branches changing from a shade of reddish brown to brown. The young tree less than three year old displays a distinct reddish shade similar to the bark of cherry trees. Trees under stress produce nutlets approximately one half inch in diameter.
The inventor and owner of this new invention planted two trees at his formal residence in Visalia, Calif. in approximately 1980 within fifteen feet of each other. One tree was an unknown cultivar of Pyrus kawakammii and the other was the xe2x80x98Aristocratxe2x80x99 cultivar of Pyrus calleryana. Although the blooming period of the two varieties would be different, depending on the degree of winter chilling that occurred, in some rare years the bloom period will overlap and cross pollination of the two occurs. Collection of Pyrus calleryana seed had been performed for production of liners (seedlings). In 1987 the seed collected produced seedling of the resulting trees (hybrid). During the next succeeding years the production manager and co-owner of the nursery observed multiple trees in the liner block that exhibited a greater variety of fall color and leaf size and shape than normal. From these variable trees he selected 31 for testing of the nursery bud wood in an orchard near Visalia, Calif. One of these trees was then selected as the mother tree. Buds from this mother tree were grafted onto Pyrus betulaefolia rootstock in the dormant season of 1998-1999 (4 trees) and an additional 300 trees were grafted in the dormant season of 2000-2001 in Visalia, Calif. The inventor carefully examined and compared the asexually reproduced trees with the mother tree and in all respects they are identical. The observed tree was three years old.
The flowering pear tree of the present invention is well suited for use as an attractive tree for ornamental landscaping. It can be readily distinguished from other ornamental flowering pear trees such as the xe2x80x98Bradfordxe2x80x99 or xe2x80x98Aristocratxe2x80x99 cultivars of Pyrus calleryana, because it has brighter foliage and larger leaves, is less pyramidal in form, and produces a brighter and more intense shade of red three weeks later than either of the two above-mentioned cultivars.